Bergman, Gaffney new to City Council

There will be two new at-large members on the next City Council when it takes office in January. Challengers Morris A. "Moe" Bergman and Michael T. Gaffney won council seats Tuesday, finishing third and sixth, respectively, in the 12-candidate field.

WORCESTER — There will be two new at-large members on the next City Council when it takes office in January.

Challengers Morris A. "Moe" Bergman and Michael T. Gaffney won council seats Tuesday, finishing third and sixth, respectively, in the 12-candidate field.

Meanwhile, incumbent Michael J. Germain will not be returning to the council after finishing seventh in the at-large race, some 900 votes behind Mr. Gaffney, who will fill the sixth and final seat.

Mr. Germain, 47, is in his fourth term on the council.

"It's tough because it feels like I've been rejected, which is fine," Mr. Germain said in a telephone interview. "I feel like I did everything I could. I went by the book and did everything that people wanted me to do, but obviously people did not think that way. I obviously wish everybody on the next City Council well."

Mr. Bergman, 50, was making his second bid for City Council, while it was the first for the 41-year-old Mr. Gaffney.

Six years ago, Mr. Bergman finished a distant 10th in a 12-candidate at-large field, some 1,000 votes out of the running for a council seat.

But his fortunes changed dramatically in his second try for the brass ring Tuesday, as he finished an impressive third, with more than 6,768 votes, according to unofficial results.

Mr. Gaffney, meanwhile, received more than 5,607 votes for the sixth and final at-large seat, some 850 votes ahead of Mr. Germain, according to unofficial results.

There was an open at-large seat going into the election as incumbent Joseph C. O'Brien decided not to seek re-election after serving two terms on the council.

Those incumbents re-elected to at-large seats on the next council were Joseph M. Petty (ninth term), Kathleen M. Toomey (fifth term), Konstantina B. Lukes (13th term) and Frederick C. Rushton (sixth term on the council, four as an at-large member and two as a district councilor).

Mr. Petty topped the field with 8,450 votes, followed by Ms. Toomey with 8,133 votes, according to unofficials results.

Mr. Bergman said his impressive finish in Tuesday's at-large race was "redemption" for how things went for him in 2007.

He said he learned a lot from his first campaign, especially the need to get the issues out to the public and let people clearly know where he stood on them.

"You have to make sure you get the issues out there and repeat them over and over again," said Mr. Bergman, a local lawyer. "I feel I did a much better job in that regard this time around and that seemed to resonate with the voters. I think that voters have to get to know a candidate before getting their support. Six years ago, I really wasn't that well known and I didn't do as good a job letting people know what I felt the most important issues were and where I stood on them."

Mr. Gaffney, also a local lawyer, attributed his victory in his first bid for council to a lot of hard work and meeting the voters on a face-to-face basis.

During the course of the campaign, he said he knocked on more than 7,000 doors citywide, with a special emphasis in City Council Districts 1 and 5 in the city's West Side.

"I'm still trying to get over this," Mr. Gaffney said in a telephone interview. "This is really something and I couldn't be happier. My campaign focused on the personal approach, meeting the voters face-to-face and talking to them about the issues."

Mr. Gaffney said he spent much of Tuesday on efforts to get people out to vote, with a special emphasis on 11 targeted precincts.

Mr. Germain said he did not feel there was anything in particular that caused him to fall into disfavor with the voters.

He described himself as being a "polarizing personality" and someone who is not afraid to speak about his position on any issue.

"Part of that problem may have led to this," Mr. Germain said. "Part of me is somewhat happy because this is over, but part of me is also sadden by this."

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